Venganza
by TheLittleMermano
Summary: A small smirk played on the Queen's lips as she straightened her posture and walked to the end of the line; Shoulders back, chin up. Her next action would have more consequences than she could imagine-A war. A bloody, backstabbing, drama filled, war. Cardverse.
1. Prologue

**Chapter warning: Character death, Psychopathic portrayal of a character, and quite a bit of blood.**

**...**

In a kingdom of green, a woman in her early thirties sat in a large, velvet covered chair. This woman sparkled with confidence and pride. This woman was the queen of this country.

"Roderich, would you gather up the servants? I'd like to have a bath."

"Yes my lady."

The door shut with a small creak, and Elizabeta stood from her chair.

She pulled the ribbon out of her hair and let it fall over her shoulders. Her eyes were glazed with amusement; this was going to be fun.

Her posture and demeanor screamed power and domination, the way a queen should look. It wasn't just the posture, though.

It was her personality.

"Your highness?"

"Come in, Roderich."

The door was opened once more and Roderich walked in, along with ten or so servants.

The fear in their eyes was exhilarating, Elizabeta thought.

With one smooth motion she picked up the dagger from the side table and walked to the line of her underlings; servants. The heels of her boots clicked with every step and her dress swayed back and forth as she walked, "Any volunteers?"

Silence.

"Mr. Vargas," She turned to face the brown-haired boy, the one with an odd curl sticking out from the side of his head. This was the brother of the Kingdom Of Heart's Jack, Feliciano.

"Yes ma'am." The young man replied. It was obvious he was trying to hide the fear in his voice—but Elizabeta could see through even the strongest of men.

A small smirk played on the Queen's lips as she straightened her posture as she walked to the end of the line; Shoulders back, chin up. "Roderich. I'm going to need a bucket."

Without a word, Roderich sauntered over to the washroom where he retrieved a medium sized metal bucket.

"Thank you. I wouldn't want to miss any."

She returned her gaze to the Vargas boy, and slowly lifted her knife to his face. Her tongue flickered out to lick her lips once before the dagger found a new place in the man's throat.

"Lovino!" A different servant cried, a small whimper escaping his lips.

But his protests were ignored. Roderich walked over to Elizabeta's side, holding the bucket underneath the Vargas boy.

He didn't even have time to scream. Or cry, even. He was dead.

The knife was removed from Lovino's throat, and blood dripped from the large wound, into the bucket.

Elizabeta took the bucket, and Roderich held Lovino in place.

With every drop that fell, Elizabeta's smile grew.

She knew she was sick. She knew what she was doing wasn't normal, and there would most likely be consequences.

But the best part about consequences? There couldn't be any if no one knew.

Blood dripped into the bucket faster and faster until it was filled with red. "Roderich, would you store the body away?"

"Yes your highness." He grabbed the boy's body by the collar of the shirt, and dragged it out of the room, blood dripping onto the floor.

"Roderich!"

"Yes Ma'am?"

"Keep the floors clean!" She growled. Her demeanor seemed to change instantly as she went from seemingly angry to unsettlingly calm.

"Now…" She turned to face the rest of the shaking servants. "Mr. Galante, Mr. Laurinaitis, Mr. Von Bock, and Miss Bonnefoy. Please wait for Roderich to get back, he'll tell you what to do."

Two of the servants burst into tears. They knew their fates.

"Lucille…Ravis... it'll be okay." A man with green eyes, and brown hair pulled back into a ponytail comforted.

Elizabeta ignored them as she walked to the washroom, passing the sobbing man who had yelled for the Vargas boy. He said something under his breath, but the majority of it wasn't heard. The only word that was audible through his sobs was—"Venganza."

She didn't know what that meant, nor did she care.

She slammed the large white door of the washroom, blood filled bucket in hand.

This was her method of keeping young. She wasn't getting any younger. And if she was going to keep ruling as queen, she'd make sure she stayed beautiful.

Holy blood.

That was sure to keep her at her prime.

The blood was poured into the bath tub, but it only covered about the first three inches of the tub.

She slowly undid the lacing of her dress, and let it fall to the ground. Next to go was the petticoat, then boots.

She stepped into the bathtub; the blood was still warm, pleasantly so. As she lay back against the wall of the tub she heard the screaming of one of her maids, Lucille. Ah, it was such a nice sound, too.

It was wonderful, being queen. You could get away with almost anything. No one would blame you. You were the queen, why would you kill someone?

No one even considered her a psychopath; it was her husband, the king who was rumored to be one. But it was the opposite, really.

She was fully aware she wasn't sane.

**...**

**A/N: For those who don't know, 'Venganza' means Revenge in spanish.**


	2. Return To Hearts

**Warnings: Torture mentions?**

**...**

His fingers were turning blue.

His lips were chapped.

Numbness consumed the tip of his nose and ears.

It was twelve days on foot from the Green country to the red country.

The weather was harsh at night. Cold, with a strong, icy wind.

His legs felt weak as he carried on. One foot in front of the other, repeat.

He wanted to give up but he couldn't; he needed to tell Feliciano.

Last month his best friend died. He was killed by the Queen of Clubs.

It was a bloody, horrific death. He was stabbed in the throat, and his blood was used for the Queen to bathe in. it was sick.

And Antonio had to watch this happen.

He shuddered at the thought. He remembered how he felt, he remembered every second of the trauma. Every night he relived it.

He and Lovino had grown up together in the red country. They were happy, and rich; and eventually started living together. Feliciano, the Jack of Hearts and Lovino's brother, always sent a lot of money for them to live off of. They could buy whatever they wanted, eat whenever they wanted to, and had more freedom than most peasants in the kingdom. They were lucky. It was ironic, though, that when they were sent to the country of luck, their luck ceased to exist.

'Sent,' was a tricky word. Captured fit better than any other.

Words couldn't quite describe the monstrosities he'd seen in that prison; especially in the last few months. Seven years ago when they first arrived, everything was okay. The Queen was eccentric, but she was still innocent.

The second year, things seemed off.

The third, she started hurting them.

The fourth, she killed a few of the other servants.

The fifth, more deaths.

The six, the torture became more frequent and more intense, as did the deaths.

And now, the seventh, she was completely insane.

It was terrifying that no one could see that—and they wouldn't believe a servant. But Feliciano would believe him. And since Feliciano was third in command, and was closer to the king than some would think, something could be done about this.

Lovino's death could be avenged.

All of the servants he witnessed die in the past two years could be avenged.

Just like he promised on the day of Lovino's death. He made a promise to the Queen; a promise to the servants, and a promise to himself.

Revenge.

The queen didn't know his plans, as he mumbled his revenge in his native language. But it was a miracle she didn't, given the hate that filled his eyes that night.

The pain he felt when he saw that knife in his best friend's throat was unbearable, it felt like he had a knife in his own throat. And heart, and stomach. It felt like his world was a room, and the walls were falling down on him.

It was like the nights weather. He was numb, he was cold, and he was in pain.

And he _was_ going to get Venganza. Revenge.

With every step the anger grew inside him.

Not only from the death of Lovino, but also from all the things had she done to him.

She had pressed a red-hot piece of iron against his skin as punishment for resisting her, even though he hadn't done such a thing. She had kept such tight shackles on his wrist that his hands would turn blue, and go numb. He didn't have much feeling left in his hands anymore.

He was whipped and chained, burned and beaten.

And after all that, there was a lot of built up anger. Lovino's death was just what sent him over the edge, what made his revenge not just a want; but a need.

And now there was about half an hour to the castle. Half an hour to warmth and freedom, and half an hour before he could speak about all the things he was forbidden to before.

Half an hour to revenge.

Step, step, step, stumble.

It was getting hard to walk, but he was going to do this. He had to.

It was approaching sunrise, it'd warm up soon.

He could get through the cold.

The wind started to make his eyes sting, forcing him to squeeze them shut.

It hurt.

It felt like his nose was going to fall off. His head hurt so badly he couldn't even tell if he was still on the path, but he couldn't open his eyes to check.

And then the cold went away.

...

"Antonio?" A soft, familiar voice spoke. Was he dead?

"Mm…" Antonio opened his eyes, but only slightly. Light flooded in around him, making his head hurt more than it already did.

Feliciano stood there above him, his eyes wide. "Antonio… Are you alright?"

With a small nod, Antonio sat up. He wasn't on the ground. He was in a bed—a big, soft bed in a large room. The bed had large posts with hearts carved into it, and mauve drapes hung from the top of the four posts.

The rest of the room was light pink; white trim trailing the floor and ceiling against the wall.

He was in the castle. How did he even get here?

"You were gone for so long! Where were you? Where's Lovi? I was planning on sending out a search team, but you two did talk about going on an adventure, so I figured you just did that. But why didn't you tell me? You could've at least sent a letter!" Feliciano frowned.

With a small sigh, Antonio began his story. "Feliciano… We were captured by the Kingdom of Clubs. We were servants of the Queen." His mind started playing back scenes again, and he cringed.

"Why didn't you send a letter?"

"She wouldn't let us. Feliciano, she's insane. She tortured us…and..." he trailed off. More thoughts blooded his head. Red, red, red. Blood, blood, blood. Memories burned his brain.

"Where's Lovino?"

"Feli…" he was afraid of this question. It would be hard to answer. Feliciano would be just as upset as he was, if not more.

"Antonio, tell me where my brother is." Feliciano's voice sounded firmer than he'd ever heard, and his eyes were filled with persistence.

"…He's dead. She murdered him."

The light in Feliciano's eyes left, and a whimper fled his lips. "No," he took a step away. "No he isn't."

For a moment he looked fine, the next he was on the ground, sobbing. He rested his forehead against the floor, his arms covering his head. He screamed. He screamed Lovino's name and curses against the queen of the green country. He screamed his no's and his informal goodbyes.

But the worst.

"I can't live without you, Lovi, you aren't gone. You still must be out there." It was in italian, but Antonio knew enough of that from Lovino that he could translate for himself.

Antonio tried to stand up from the bed, but his shaky leg prevented him from doing so.

"Feliciano…"

What was he supposed to do? Feliciano was sitting on the ground, crying harder than he ever had in his life—and Antonio couldn't comfort him because he couldn't walk.

The good days really were gone.

Feliciano's sobbing continued, his voice becoming weaker and weaker as the minutes went by. "Lovino, Lovino, Lovino." He repeated. Over, and over, and over.

The door creaked open, and a tall man with slick blonde hair stepped through. He was serious looking, but as his gaze fell to Feliciano, his eyes widened and his relaxed, emotionless expression turned into what seemed to be confused, scared, worried—all at once.

This man, Antonio guessed, was Ludwig. Long-time friend of Feliciano and King of hearts. He changed quite a bit since he had last seen him, seven or so years ago. Funny how people could change so much in only seven years…

Ludwig rushed over to Feliciano's side and knelt down beside him. "Feli! Feli what's wrong?" he glanced at Antonio, "What happened?"

"I... I told him some bad news—"

"Lovino's dead!" came Feliciano's weak voice, followed by a sob and a whimper.

Ludwig's facial expression changed again; this time to sympathetic.

Ludwig's expressions were interesting. He seemed completely stoic when at parties or meetings, but behind closed doors he was one of the most expressive men Antonio had ever seen. Besides Lovino, that is.

He missed Lovino. A lot.

"Feli…" It was odd, hearing such a strong, seemingly emotionless man talk so softly. His voice sounded sweet now, and Antonio would go so far as to say calming.

"The Queen of Clubs killed him…" Feliciano picked his head off of the floor, but still kept it down so his face was hidden.

"What?"

"I said she killed him. He's dead because of her." Feliciano sounded angry now. "She killed him and now she's dead!" He screamed.

"Feliciano calm down." Ludwig once again looked confused, but tried to comfort him regardless.

He stood up, eyes red and his face stained with tears. "I demand something be done." He looked at Ludwig, fire in his eyes.

"Feli—"

"Ludwig. Please. Antonio, has she hurt anyone else?"

More scenes started pouring into Antonio's head. This time, more gruesome ones. Scenes of decapitation and stabbings, hangings and scenes of servants being burned to death. "She's killed at least twenty-five people."

Ludwig's eyes widened in surprise. Twenty-five was a lot…

And that was just a low end estimation.

"But Elizabeta… She's… She wouldn't do that. She's a respectable and kind woman." Ludwig frowned.

It was true; she did used to be nice. Sane, even. And on the surface she still appears to be.

"She's insane. She tortured us. Burned us with hot iron rods, whipped us, she made us eat off of the floor like dogs. Restrained us with chains and shackles that were much too tight. I would go into further detail, your majesty, but it gets quite gruesome."

"Do you have any proof?" Ludwig frowned, standing up from where he had knelt down.

"Unless you would like me to disrobe your highness, no."

"Ludwig, I've known this man since I was a child. Please, trust him as much as I do. I beg of you." Feliciano seemed considerably calmer now, thank goodness. It wasn't very pleasant, seeing him angry. He was always happy… and seeing him anything else was close to traumatizing.

"What do want me to do about it, Feliciano?! Start a war?" Ludwig yelled.

Antonio jumped a bit, startled by the sudden raising of his voice, but Feliciano didn't seem fazed. He was probably used to it…

"Yes, if that's what it takes. She needs to be overthrown." He answered simply, straightening his posture and puffing out his chest to prove his seriousness.

"We can't just start a war like this! We don't have any proof. Feliciano, this man has been missing for seven or so years. He may have turned on us, and is planning something. He could be lying. The Kingdom of Clubs is our ally." Ludwig took a single step closer, his brow furrowed and the corners of his mouth tugged downwards.

"He's not lying! You have to listen to me! I'm practically your advisor, so you need to listen to me. Antonio is one of my closest friends. I would trust him with my life. Please…"

Antonio unbuttoned his shirt, slipping it off and setting it on the bed.

Feliciano glanced at him in confusion, and then realized when he was doing as he saw his burn scar, and a few other scars that appeared to be from whippings. "See?" Feliciano gestured to Antonio.

Ludwig looked behind him at Antonio.

"Those scars could be from anything."

Antonio shakily stood from the bed, holding onto the large bed post for support. The scars on his back were from a whip, no doubt about that. There was a large burn scar that covered his entire left shoulder, as well as his shoulder blade.

On his lower back was a scar in the shape of the symbol of Clubs.

"If that's not proof your highness, I'm not sure what is."

"See Ludwig! I told you!"

"He could still be lying about the murders. All of us have done some regrettable torturing." Ludwig frowned and turned back to Feliciano.

"Feli, you know I never go anywhere without Lovino. So where is he? He's gone… I think that's proof enough." Antonio sat back down on the bed, his legs shaking.

"Ludwig. I'm questioning your judgment as king. In this kingdom if the Jack believes the king isn't doing his job correctly, he has the power to temporarily turn all responsibilities that the king has over to the Queen. And since I have this power, I demand you do something about this. If you don't, who will? No one else knows about this, that we know of. So for the sake of the world, we need to do this." The amount of seriousness in Feliciano's voice was astounding.

But Antonio supposed it was reasonable, considering that the Queen of Clubs had murdered twenty-some people from various kingdoms.

Antonio had a feeling that this would be a big war.

"…Fine." Ludwig mumbled. "I'll discuss it with Kiku first, though. He does have more authority than you do."

"Thank you Ludwig. Your effort is highly appreciated." Antonio smiled. He wasn't sure how he was able, though. After all the torture and death, and now a war was about to start.

Ludwig made his way back to the door and turned to Antonio. "You will address me as your highness, or your majesty."

And then he was gone.

"I'm sorry he's so uptight…" Feliciano sighed and sat on the bed next to Antonio.

"It's alright, I understand. War is a big thing. You have to think about things, otherwise the consequences might be greater than the end result of the war." Antonio grabbed his shirt off of the bed and slipped his arms in the sleeves.

"Yeah… You're right," Feliciano shrugged. "…I'm really sorry about all that stuff that happened in the Green kingdom…"

"And I'm sorry about the death of your brother…" He buttoned up his shirt.

Feli was silent for a moment, and then nodded. "I miss him…"

"So do I." Antonio sighed. "He was a really good friend. "

Another silence, this silence lasted longer, though.

And then Antonio thought of something.

"How did I get here, anyways? I just remember walking about half an hour away from here, nothing else."

"Oh! A newsboy from the kingdom of Spades found you on his way here. And don't worry; he was given a good sum of money for his good deed." Feliciano grinned.

"Ah, I see. Why was he coming here anyways?" Antonio asked. Newsboys from other kingdoms only came when a big event was going to take place, and he hadn't heard about anything.

"The coronation of the new king is next week, and all the royalty from other kingdoms are invited. There's going to be a big ball as well!"

Antonio remembered now that there was going to be a new king. It was always interesting seeing what they did with their country, although it wasn't always good.

"Maybe we should put off starting a war then, We wouldn't want to ruin the King's coronation."

Feliciano nodded in agreement.

And then another silence fell upon them.

"It's really good to have you back, Antonio." Feliciano smiled.

Maybe the future wouldn't be as dark as Antonio thought.


	3. The Orange Queen

The surrounding the town seemed to sparkle. The streets were practically spotless, as were the buildings. Everything was orange, yellow and gold.

Lilli was very proud of her country. The people were always happy, festivals were held frequently, crime rates were low, and their finances her plenty.

Her kingdom was the smallest. The biggest was clubs, then Spades, then Hearts, and then her country, Diamonds.

But with being small came rewards: She knew the people better.

Her kingdom was said to be the prettiest, as well. The leaves on the trees were always yellow and dark orange—but they never fell. The sunsets were a particularly deep orange; scarlet, almost.

Decorative flower pots filled with large red, orange, and yellow flowers lined the streets to keep things smelling nice and to add an extra detail to the towns.

In a black cloak the Queen walked down the street, admiring all the people and small shops on the side of the road. She had sneaked out. Again. It was the usual routine by now—when Vash, her brother the Jack, was away on trips, she'd go into town.

She didn't understand why she was so sheltered. This kingdom was the safest, so chances are she wouldn't get hurt. This kingdom was also the smallest, so she wouldn't get lost as easily. Besides, she knew her way around her own country well enough.

Francis, the king, didn't mind her being out. If she didn't ever see her kingdom and explore, how could she run it?

In this particular country, the Queen was the dominant ruler. Meaning the king was second in command.

It only worked this way in one other country; The Kingdom of Green.

In the Kingdom of Red the King was the dominant ruler, and in the Kingdom of Blue the King and Queen ruled equally.

Lilli took pride in the way she ran her country, especially since she was only of age fourteen—by far the youngest Queen, king, _or _Jack in all four kingdoms.

A townsperson must've noticed it was her, and waved.

Lilli waved back shyly as she passed, grinning. She loved interacting with her people. She went out so often that she knew all the people in the town outside of the castle by name, and they didn't bother to bow.

This was a thing that was very well inforced in the kingdom; she told her people not to bow, curtsy or treat her differently than any other peasant. Although, the latter was unavoidable.

She still received flowers and other small gifts, mostly hair ribbons. She kept each one, and tried to remember the face of the person who had given it to her, although at this point, with so many ribbons, it was difficult.

But she remembered six.

The first was given to her by her brother on the day of her coronation. it was a deep, velvety red.

The second was given to her by one of her servants, Bella. It was orange, and soft.

The third was given to her by two duchesses from the Kingdom of Green. This ribbon was yellow. They said it went well with her dress.

The fourth, again, was given by the Kingdom of Clubs. This one was from the Queen, however. She received this one when she was only four years old, and they decided she would be next in line as Queen. This one was green.

The fifth was a present from a newsboy from the Blue kingdom. He was quite flustered when he came to deliver news, and gave her a present of admiration. This one was blue.

And the sixth was from a small peasant boy who had spent all his money to get the Queen the nicest bow money could buy. It was made out of only the purest, prettiest materials. This ribbon was a deep purple.

The purple ribbon was her ribbon of choice today, as this was the same town where that boy had given her the bow.

And this was her favorite town, too. It was easily accessible from the castle, and it was a nice town.

Not too fancy, not too poor.

Although no town here was poor. The poorest town in the country was richer than the average town in any other kingdom.

It was the kingdom of diamonds, after all. It was the richest, prettiest kingdom.

**...**

**A/N: first filler chapter! there'll probably be a couple of these for character developement, world developement, and stuff like that. It'll help with building up the story and explaining things a bit better.**


	4. The Blue Ball

A blue coat was placed over the young man's shoulders, and a bow tied around the collar of his shirt.

"Are you ready?" The older man behind him asked.

"I'm as ready as I can be, Arthur." The younger man turned around from the mirror he was facing, doubt in his eyes. "But… I still don't think I'm worthy of this."

"Alfred, we've been over this many times. You were born into the throne. You're more worthy of this title than anyone. You're old enough to run the kingdom now, so you have a duty to fulfill. I inherited the throne when I was your age, and I didn't think I was worthy either. But believe me, you are."

The doubt in Alfred's eyes quickly turned into a venomous glare towards Arthur. He knew he was lying. For him to be born into the throne, his parents would have had to be the King and Queen. And they weren't—he didn't even know his parents, only his so-called older brother.

"I wasn't born into the throne. There hasn't been a woman running this kingdom for centuries… I've figured you out. You found me when I was a baby, and since you didn't have an heir to the throne, you decided to take me back to the kingdom and claim that I was your younger brother, and our mother couldn't take care of me. Am I correct?"

"Alfred that's absurd—"

"Big brother, if I can even call you that, I'm not stupid. If I'm old enough to rule a kingdom I'm old enough to know the truth. It's time for you to tell me." Alfred demanded.

"I'll tell you after the ball," Arthur sighed. "I promise. But you're already behind schedule, so let's go."

"Fine." Alfred took a few steps towards his bedroom door.

"You're forgetting something." He grabbed a pair of blue gloves and a golden scepter from the mantle of the fireplace. "The crown is already waiting in the ballroom, your highness."

Alfred became tense as he stopped at the door. "I'd rather you not call me that."

Arthur nodded and followed him out into the hallway.

"Why can't I become Queen? Or Jack? Why do I have to be King?" Alfred crossed his arms over his chest, a small annoyed sigh escaping his lips.

"Because I'm far too old to continue my duties as King."

"Big brother, you're only thirty."

Arthur continued as he ignored him. "And we already have a Jack."

The hallway filled with silence as he ran out of things to say. Alfred didn't want to be King. He knew he would make a wonderful King, and would make a lot of changes to the country to make it better. But he wanted the freedom of being able to run around do whatever he wanted. He wanted to still be able to go on adventures. But as King, he would have more responsibilities. More meetings, more parties, more decisions.

He just wanted freedom.

They entered the large ballroom, which was for now, empty. Soon his Coronation would start, and people from all different kingdoms would fill the room. Well, at least now he would be able to meet some of the people he'd be working with.

The large room as lined with long tables adorned with blue centerpieces, and on one side of the room there were three thrones of varying sizes. The left throne was medium size; the right throne was the smallest. In the middle was where he would sit, in the largest throne.

"Where's Yao?" Alfred asked curiously as he turned to Arthur.

"He told me he'd be a bit late. His brother from the kingdom of Hearts came to visit him a bit early."

"Okay..." Alfred approached the thrones, lightly running his fingers over the soft fabric of the seat of _his_ throne. "Can I sit in it right now or do I have to wait?"

"You may sit in it now if it pleases you." Arthur smiled.

Alfred hesitantly took the step up to the throne, and sat down. It was soft, and comfortable. The cushion and back of the large chair were blue, and velvety.

It was nice.

Before anything could be said, the kingdom's newsboy came running into the room, out of breath. "Every… Everyone is outside, are you ready?" He panted.

"Of course I'm ready Matthew!" Alfred grinned. He and Matthew had been friends for as long as he could remember. Even though Alfred was destined to be royalty and Matthew was only a simple newsboy, they had somehow become friends really quickly.

They looked a lot alike, too. So it was fun hanging out with him. Almost everyone mistook them for brothers.

But sadly because Alfred was to become king tonight, from now on he wouldn't be able—or allowed to be around him as much. Being royalty wasn't as much fun as everyone thought.

"Alright," Matthew smiled a soft smile. "I'll tell the guards to open the gates." He said quickly before running off again.

Arthur took a seat in the throne to Alfred's left. "Are you excited?"

"A little. Not really, though."

"And why not?"

Alfred didn't answer. He just didn't want to tell him, as he knew he'd be lectured if he went on about freedom. Arthur thought Alfred was too young to know the definition of freedom, which was ridiculous.

A long silence filled the big room.

The large doors opened and people started coming in. It was obvious which nation each person came from, with their different colored outfits.

He recognized the orange royalty walk in—they were always the most noticeable. Especially the Queen.

Next came the green kingdom. They _really _looked like royalty, more so than the other's. The way they walked and the way they dressed – everything about them seemed extremely elegant.

The red kingdom was next. He never really cared for their outfits. There were too many poofy shorts involved.

Next came in the other not really royalty yet not really peasants' people. Two duchesses from the green kingdom were the ones who stood out the most. One was tall with a sharp pointy nose and long platinum blonde hair held back with a large green bow. The second was short and had a bit of a round face. Her hair was short, but had a small green hairpin to keep her bangs out of her face.

Behind them were a few knights, each one of them had a feather sticking out of their helmets that they were carrying under one arm to tell which kingdom they came from.

One knight was wearing something that resembled a masquerade mask, he had a green feather. Another looked rather feminine. He… Or she, had an Orange feather. And the third night had odd blonde hair that stood at an angle. He wore a grin on his face, but no feather. That was strange…

And then finally came the Jokers as they were affectionately called. The social outcasts of the world who decided to travel around and perform at large events. They were quite popular for outcasts, though. Everyone knew their names, and everyone loved them.

Gilbert and Peter.

Gilbert had white hair and red eyes, which often made people wonder if he was a demon. But he was funny, and if the subject of execution came up many members of royalty vetoed it. He was from the kingdom of Clubs.

Peter was short, and blonde with slightly bushy eyebrows. Rumor has it he's a cousin or nephew of Arthur's, but both of them deny it. He had always tried to fit in, but just never really did. He wasn't quite sure why he was considered a social outcast, though. There was always a reason. Everyone laughed at him for his efforts of trying to become royalty, which usually got him banned from towns. He had almost been arrested for posing as royalty multiple times, and was native to the kingdom of Spades.

The room divided in half as the two Jokers came in, Gilbert juggling four balls, each one the color of a kingdom, _and _walking on a rolling sideways cylindrical tube. Peter rolled on another tube identical to Gilbert's, but spun a plate on a long narrow stick.

They made their way to the thrones before hopping off of the tubes, and catching their other items as they fell. They both bowed in front of Alfred with a grin.

"Your highness! Today we hope to bring you much entertainment as we perform death deifying stunts and dangerous deeds, such as trying to woo royal ladies." Gilbert turned and winked at the Green Queen before turning back to Alfred. "But really, we hope to entertain you on this happy night."

"Happy coronation day!" Peter grinned as they walked in opposite directions to the other side of the room.

The room filled with claps and applause, but none more joyous than Alfred's.

He was pretty close with those two as well, but since they seemed to disappear off of the face of the earth if there wasn't a festival or a ball going on, he didn't see them often. But they were really fun.

A man with a long brown ponytail came to the thrones and sat in the empty throne. "Sorry I'm late." He said quietly as he leaned closer to Alfred.

"Oh, hey Yao. Its fine. I understand." Alfred grinned.

"Well now that everyone is here, shall we start the ceremony?" Arthur stood up, a small smile on his face.

More cheering filled the room.

A servant came over to Arthur and handed him a pillow with a large crown resting on top of it.

"Thank you."

"Do you remember the oath, Alfred?" Yao leaned over and whispered to him.

"Arthur made me recite in it in front of the mirror for three hours. I sure hope I remember it." Alfred did memorize it, but he planned on changing it up. He stood up, his eyes scanning the room, and he sm. He stood up, his eyes scanning the room, and he smiled.

"On my honor, I swear to protect this kingdom from any harm to the best of my ability. I promise to keep this nation strong, and to win any wars we may enter. Failure is inevitable for other nations, but for us, failure is impossible." That part of the oath was the stupidest, but it was the only part of the oath that hadn't ever been adapted. So for the sake of tradition, he figured he should keep it.

The next part, however, would have drastic changes to it. He glanced at Arthur before continuing.

"But while power has been an important component in this kingdom, I plan on making some changes in my rule. Freedom is my priority. Servants will be servants by will. People are not property, and I intend to stick with this rule. It will be law, and anyone who buys or sells an individual will be arrested immediately." He paused, and looked at the fuming Arthur once more, grinning, before continuing.

"…Anyways, continuing on… I swear on my life to be the best king I can be. I promise to make my people happy, and keep my kingdom beautiful, powerful, and free."

The room filled with applause as Alfred finished his oath, which at this point was more of a speech, and he bowed. When he stood straight again, Arthur placed the crown on his head. And before Arthur could say anything about the speech, Alfred walked down the few steps to the floor, where everyone else was at. "Now, shall we dance?" he grinned, and nodded over to the musicians who had agreed to play the music for the ball.

The music was lively, and the people immediately started chatting, but no one danced yet. It was tradition for the new king to be the first to dance, he remembered.

Before he could even think of whom he should ask to dance with, the two jokers approached him, throwing their arms around his shoulders.

"You did great up there, your highness." Peter smiled.

"But that wasn't the right oath, was it?" chuckled Gilbert.

"Not really," Alfred smiled. "Its good to see you two again... I haven't seen you since… Lilli's coronation?" he was pretty sure he was right, but his memory wasn't that great, sadly.

"Uh-huh!"

"Speaking of Lilli," Gilbert began.

"You should go dance with her." Peter finished. The two Joker's had been with each other long enough to finish each other's sentences, and it was a bit unsettling.

"I don't know. Her brother is really protective, remember?" That _was _something Alfred remembered. He wondered what had happened to make him that protective of her. But he shook the thought off, because he doubted he'd ever find out the answer.

"So? It's your day; he can't stop you from doing anything. And besides, it's not like you're going to court her or anything, you're just dancing. Now, go and ask her, your majesty." Gilbert let go of him, as did Peter, before they gave him a little push in her direction.

Alfred, albeit nervously, found his way over to Lilli. He smiled and took her hand, giving it a small kiss. "May I have this dance, your highness?"

Lilli looked surprised, and slightly embarrassed, her pink cheeks revealed. She nodded regardless, and followed when Alfred pulled her out into the empty part of the room.

Alfred smiled, and rested his hand on her waist. She returned the gesture by resting her hand on his shoulder. They entwined their fingers on their free hand, and Lilli giggled quietly.

"Congratulations on your coronation, your highness." Lilli smiled.

Alfred took a step forward, then sideways, the backwards, and Lilli followed his movements. Alfred was an incredibly awkward dancer as he was incredibly clumsy, but he pretended like he wasn't. And it seemed to convince Lilli. "Thank you, my lady."

Finally others started dancing, and Alfred watched them from the corner of his eye.

It was the normal couples, such as the Green King and Queen, and the Jack of Hearts dancing with whatever pretty lady was closest to him; this time it was one of the Green duchesses. But for some reason, the Red jack seemed to be gloomier than his usual chipper self, but it looked as if he was trying to hide it. He wondered why he was so out of character.

Curse his talent to observe, it just made his curiosity and thirst for answers grow.

He noticed the King of diamonds dancing in the corner of the room with the orange night he had seen at the beginning of the ball, too. He suspected a secret, and most likely forbidden, love.

Peter was flirting with a servant girl, and he noticed Gilbert leaning against the closest wall, his gaze switching from Alfred and Lilli to Elizabeta and Ivan. Alfred wondered what kind of past he had with them. Since he was a Green citizen, and he was practically staring at them, there had to be some sort of history. His curiosity was getting the better of him now, and he was an inch away from going to ask Gilbert about it, that was until Lilli brought him back to reality.

"Are you alright Alfred?" She asked, her voice tinted with concern and a small frown upon her face. He'd never seen her frown before, Alfred realized.

"Hm? Oh, yes, I'm fine. I'm afraid I'm just a little too nosy with other's affairs. Curiosity often gets the better of me—my mind was just wandering."

"I understand. I do that too, sometimes. For instance I noticed a little bit of conflict between you and your brother, perhaps?"

"Perhaps," Alfred muttered, his gaze once more returning to Arthur who still sat in the medium sized throne.

And he was staring at Alfred, too. He looked unhappy.

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><p><strong>AN: i'm sorry for taking so long with the update! I took a (much too long) break from writing, and just now got around to finishing this. I hope you enjoy!**


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